1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a portable work light and more particularly, to a disposable work light having a protective and reflectorized housing permanently mounted on the housing lamp.
2. Description of Prior Art and Advantages
Traditionally, trouble lights, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,275,435 issued to Henry M. Dora on Jun. 23, 1981; U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,175 issued to O. W. Schweikle on Nov. 18, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 2,677,753 issued G. W. Heinz on May 4, 1954; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,141,062 issued to Raymond L. Trueblood on Feb. 20, 1979, include incandescent lamps which are threadedly received in a complementally formed electrically conductive, threaded, metal light bulb socket that is disposed in, and transversely moveable relative to, a surrounding rubber handle in which the socket is disposed. Incandescent lamps are fragile. If the traditional trouble light is dropped or bumped, the incandescent lamp filament is easily broken. It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a portable work light which will resist lamp breakage due to drops and bumps.
A substantial amount of heat radiates from incandescent bulbs causing the bulbs to be very hot and subject the user to being burned. The generated heat can also ignite certain inflammable gases and liquids, if inadvertently introduced to the heated incandescent lamp. A hot incandescent lamp can explode if splashed with even one drop of water.
To overcome these problems, trouble lights have been made with linear fluorescent light sources, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,719 issued to Paul J. Reiff, et al on Nov. 2, 1999; U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,736 issued to Paul J. Reiff, et al on May 14, 2002; U.S. Pat. No. 2,489,686 issued to J. L. Suter on Nov. 29, 1949; U.S. Pat. No. 3,815,080 issued to Frank Summa on Jun. 4, 1974 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,874,270 issued to H. E. Douglas, et al on Feb. 17, 1959. Such elongate, linear light bulbs are bulky, clumsy and limited in their light output. Linear light sources are not concentrated in a short length for a given voltage as are spiral fluorescent bulbs, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,279,635 issued to J. Morley on Apr. 14, 1942 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,761 issued to Thomas Lo Giudice on Apr. 27, 1976. For example, a 15 watt fluorescent bulb is as bright as a 75 watt incandescent bulb which is generally the upper acceptable recommended watt limit for most trouble light fixtures.
A typical trouble light socket includes a curvilinear metal reflector, fixed to the trouble light handle, extending on one lateral side of the incandescent lamp and a hinged, wire cage along the laterally opposite side of the lamp to protect the lamp from breakage. The prior art housing is mounted on a rubber handle and moveable therewith relative to the bulb subjecting the bulb to breakage. It is an advantage of the present invention to provide a trouble light having a housing which is inseparably fixed to the base of the bulb to limit relative movement therebetween.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a reflector housing of the type described which has a relatively short reflectorized portion and a reduced diameter section mounted on the base of the lamp.
Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a portable work light including a partially reflectorized protective housing cantileverly inseparably mounted to the lamp.
The housing, constructed according to the present invention, contemplates a pair of semi-cylindrical halves which are permanently mated to each other and to laterally opposite sides of the base of a fluorescent light bulb with one of the semi-cylindrical halves including a light reflecting portion on one lateral side of the bulb and the other half including a translucent section on the laterally opposite side of the bulb for transmitting the reflected light rays emanating from the light source.
The present invention contemplates a new and novel work lamp which has a fluorescent light with an electrically non-conductive base, including a ballast and starter, and a rotary electrically conductive base for being detachably rotatably received in a complementally formed electrical socket and an elongate cylindrical housing fixed to the base for disposal with the lamp when the lamp has outlived its useful life.
Existing trouble lights include an annular gap between the electrically conductive rotary base of the light source and the electrically non-conductive handle, which provides a ready ingress window for flammable gases and liquids that can be ignited. The present invention contemplates a resilient annular guard received by the base of the lamp and projecting radially outwardly therefrom to provide a cover which will span the gap between the lamp and the handle and thus, eliminates inadvertent passage of liquid, such as water, and/or explosive gases therebetween. The radially outer portion of the resilient vibration dampening guard is a resilient seal clamped between the terminal end of the electrically non-conductive handle and the opposing end of the cantileverly supported lamp housing. When the spiral fluorescent light bulb incorporated in the present invention exceeds it useful life and is disposed, the resilient shield and housing will be disposed therewith. Accordingly, it is another advantage of the present invention to provide a disposable work light including a resilient annular safety shield having a bore therethrough received on the base of a fluorescent lamp bulb and spanning the gap the between the bulb and the electrically nonconductive portion of the handle surrounding the base of the bulb.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide an annular resilient shield which is resiliently mounted on the base of the light source and bears against the end of the electrically non-conductive light mounting handle for stabilizing the bulb and absorbing any shock or force that would otherwise be transmitted from the handle to the bulb.
It is another advantage of the present invention to provide a resilient safety ring which mounts on the base of a lamp and seals to the mounting handle for keeping gas and/or fumes out of electrical contact with the handle supported electrical socket.
It is a further advantage of the present invention to mount a housing and a reflector on the light source as opposed to mounting the reflector on the handle in which the light source is threadedly mounted.
Another advantage of the present invention is to provide a replacement for an incandescent light bulb used in a mechanic's work light and to provide an enhanced versatile work light that is safe to use and provides a variety of light intensities in a compact arrangement.
These and other advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent as the descriptions hereof proceeds: